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Top reasons to choose this course

• RIBA/ARB accredited – Take the next step towards becoming a qualified architect with a course that meets professional standards.
• Studio-based learning – Work from dynamic studios shaped by tutors’ cutting-edge research and real-world practice where your ideas can thrive.
• Socially engaged – Engage with topics that explore architecture’s role in addressing social, environmental, and cultural change.
• Creative collaboration – Become part of Brighton’s vibrant and collaborative environment, where your creativity is nurtured and challenged.
• Innovative curriculum – Deepen the design thinking, research methods, and critical perspectives you developed during your undergraduate studies, wherever you studied.
• Expert-led learning – You'll be mentored by researchers and industry professionals shaping the future of design and architecture.

Course structure 

We want you to emerge from the course as an assured architectural designer, confident in your approach, ideals and aspirations, and with the ability to communicate this to the wider world. You will gain a gradual deepening of understanding and the tools to critically reflect upon design strategies and navigate the wider contemporary debate on architecture.

The design studio laboratories form the backbone to the course. The other individual elements of the course increasingly intertwine over the two years to provide a final systematic understanding of architecture as a holistic entity.

Year 1: Strategy

There are four elements of the course covered in the first year modules. Design Studio forms the backbone in one year-long module. In semester 1, two modules run alongside Design Studio: Building and Environment and Architectural Humanities. In semester 2, one module, Future Practice, runs in parallel.

Making sure that what you learn with us is relevant, up to date and what employers are looking for is our priority, so courses are reviewed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. When you have applied to us, you’ll be told about any new developments through .

Year 2: Integration

Year 2 modules are also formed of three elements. Design encompasses the whole year through the masters Design Thesis. Alongside this, the Design Research Practices module is aimed at introducing you to research methodologies and practices, and is taken with masters students from other design disciplines in the school.

In semester 2, you will develop self-directed research based on your interests arising from your design work in the Architectural Research Specialisation module.

Modules

• Architectural Humanities

  In this module you will develop a critical understanding of key contemporary ideas and issues in architecture and related areas through texts, debates and your own work. The emphasis in this module will be on your ability to develop well-informed and reasoned positions on the issues in question and communicate these effectively.

• Building and Environment

  In this module you will develop strategic knowledge and understanding of the connections between of environmental science, structural systems, material performances and detailed design development. You will apply the knowledge gained from lectures and seminars to your design project. Lecture topics may include environmental, structural, computer aided design, performative modelling and component production and material design principles.

• Future Practice

  In this module you will integrate the skills, knowledge and understanding of professional practice developed during your degree and Stage 1 professional experience with your current MArch work. You will use design projects to test the regulatory, financial and professional controls applied to a specific project and examine the future role of the architect and the future forms of architectural practice.

• Design Studio

  In this module you will join one of a number of research-led design studios that critically engage with contemporary issues. You will be introduced to and develop a research-based approach informed by your studio’s agenda. You will apply this to develop a brief and design a comprehensive architectural design proposal which integrates material, environmental, sustainability, user and structural considerations.

• Design Research Practices

  In this module you will learn to understand research in a way that’s specific to design. It starts from the idea that research, including scientific research, is a specific form of design activity and that design can influence research and vice versa. You will rearticulate the design expertise you’re already developing and apply this to research. You will also learn how to combine design research and practice in your own way.

• Architectural Research Specialisation

  In this module you will complete a self-directed research study through which you will develop a specialisation which reflects your wider design practice and aspirations. You may choose to define your topic in ways that complement your work in Design Thesis or build on insights from other modules you’ve studied. The form of the study will be developed in discussion with your tutor and peers to suit the specific topic and method.

• Design Thesis

  Working within a research-led design studio, you will develop a self-directed research-based design thesis in this module and explore it through a complex architectural design proposal. You will evolve and use a comprehensive range of visual, oral and written media to test, analyse, critically appraise and explain the design proposal. The proposal will integrate material, environmental, structural, constructional, user and sustainability considerations.

Year 1: Strategy

We see the first year of the course as an evolution of your current skill set to embrace a critical engagement with design. The design studio laboratories will ask you to engage with a research-based approach to a generation of design strategies and architectural proposals, and to critically reflect upon your developing conclusions.

An understanding of the core principles as well as an introduction to new technologies and environmental concerns associated with building is supported through the technology thread of the course. In the module Architectural Humanities you will be asked to place your own work in relation to significant contemporary positions in architectural design practice and theory, building an awareness of the political, disciplinary and professional concerns and agendas that drive it. 

Further testing and exploration of your design proposal by regulatory, financial and professional controls will build on your skills, knowledge and understanding of professional practice. This will enable you to critically examine the future role of the architect and future forms of architectural practice.

Year 2: Integration

A self-directed research-based design thesis develops throughout the final year of the course. This offers you the opportunity to deeply explore your own architectural position informed by your design studio laboratory’s research agenda.

Visual, oral and written media will be used to test, analyse, critically appraise and explain the final design proposal. You will be assisted in developing an integrated and independent approach to design research as the new research thread of the course expands on your methodologies and practices.

Teaching

The course is centred around the studio and through this aims to reflect the nature of architectural practice. Teaching is rooted in problem-based learning, such as through critical studio briefs, and a research-based approach to problem solving. You will therefore be asked to critically engage with and reflect upon the subject matter and to learn through your own research and enquiry. One-to-one tutorials, group discussions, seminars as well as lectures by academic staff and visiting practitioners all act to assist in evolving your ideas.

The studio laboratories are derived from the tutors’ own field of enquiry as academics or practitioners. You are given the opportunity to apply for the studio laboratory of your choice at the start of each academic year. 

Staff profile

Duncan Baker-Brown, course leader

Duncan is a practising architect, environmental activist and author. He is also our climate literacy champion. Duncan has practiced, taught and researched issues around sustainable development and closed looped systems for over 25 years.

His research-led architectural practice and consultancy BakerBrown Studio was created to address the huge demands presented by the climate and ecological emergency as well as the challenges of designing in a post-COVID world.

Duncan has taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate level since 1994. His research practice informs his teaching, and vice versa. Duncan coordinated the design and construction of the multi-award-winning Brighton Waste House with over 360 undergraduate students, volunteers and apprentices. As well as being a successful live project, it is also Europe’s first permanent building made of waste material and hosts a number of ongoing funded research projects.

Find out .

Facilities 

Facilities and workshops are supported by full-time specialist technicians and include:

• dedicated studio spaces for each group and programme
• specialist model-making and construction workshops with equipment for fabrication in wood, metal, plastics, resins and textiles
• photographic studios and darkroom
• digital fabrication facilities including laser cutting and 3D printing
• rapid prototyping, 5-axis milling and CNC routing facilities
• PC and Mac computer suites with software including Adobe suite (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), Vectorworks, Autodesk suite, Rhino, Blender, Maya, Cinema 4D and Premiere
• in-house reprographic department 
• wide range of surveying and audiovisual equipment available for loan.

Studios 

There are a range of studio laboratories to choose from each year, all of which explore different contemporary design research fields informed by the studio tutors’ current research.

Each studio laboratory is supported by two tutors and has a dedicated studio space within which to conduct your explorations alongside fellow students from both years of the course.

Student views

Irene Klokkari 

“Coming from a different university, this course gave me the opportunity to meet new people, experience a new environment and explore different design approaches. The tutors establish close relationships with the students and create an engaging studio environment.

“During my final year, my dissertation was nominated for the RIBA President’s Medals, and received a commendation. This was a great opportunity to meet architects and professors and discuss ideas to further develop my research.”

Irene Papayianni 

“This course has given me the opportunity to develop my own architectural individuality. The academic tutors and staff on the course were extremely supportive and helpful. The course structure was a combination of modules that make it artistic, technical and philosophical. 

“Throughout my studies I have managed to develop skills in both designing and detailing, which has made the transition from university to practice easier. On the course you will have the opportunity to meet and demonstrate your work to globally recognised professionals.”

Summer Shows

At the end of every academic year, the School of Architecture and Design comes alive with creativity, celebration, and community spirit at our annual Architecture and Design Summer Show. This vibrant event marks the culmination of months of hard work, innovation, and exploration by our talented students and offers a glimpse into the future of architecture and design.

Click the image below to take a virtual wander and explore our students’ creative work.

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice